Ideas

Preventing Skin Damage | Flowering | Vinegar | Environmental Concerns |

Preventing Skin Damage

It is attractive to have some decorative stones around the top of the flower pot, but this can be functional too. Succulent and Cactus plants used as topiaries will gain several benefits when the flower pots are topped off with rocks. The top rocks will prevent rain from washing away the soil and help keep the cactus clean. Without top rocks the rain will splatter potting soil back up on the sides of plants and this not only looks bad but can be harmful too. The small spots of dirt can eventually cause scars or even cause a terminal case of rot by encouraging fungi to grow.

Another benefit with top rocks is they help prevent squirrels from digging in the soil. Imagine finding peanuts and walnuts buried in the potting soil when repotting plants which have been out doors for the growing season. Squirrels are very curious and they can damage cactus plants, in spite of the spines, when they are checking for food. The farther north you live the more likely you are to have squirrels digging in your flower pots. The best way to discourage these fluffy tailed diggers is to top off flower pots with rocks--the rougher the rocks the better.  ↑

Flowering

Encouraging cactus plants to bloom is usually a matter sunlight, water and especially the age of any specific variety. Cactus plants reach flowering age according to their species with some becoming ready to bloom in a few years, and others taking decades before making their first flowers. There are many varieties which almost never bloom as house plants, but the majority of them may bloom with good conditions. It is important to avoid thinking of cactus and succulent plants as unusual sorts of vine-less garden vegetables. The same considerations for garden plants like sunlight, water and soil nutrients are important, but increasing all of these things as though the cactus were a tomato plant will often fail to achieve the desired results. These things do encourage flowers to happen, but must be considered according to the specialized needs of succulent and cactus plants. Keeping all care in the order of seasonal changes when providing the plants with sunlight, water and soil nutrients will encourage cactus plants to bloom as long as they are old enough.

The most important flowering requirement is sunlight in the growing seasons, and the amount of sun light needed to produce blooms will very greatly for different species of cacti. For cactus plants which seem unwilling to bloom more sunlight is the first thing to try by finding brighter locations for these plants. To encourage flowers as well as the general health of these plants, light needs to be abundant primarily in the spring, summer and fall. Most species of cactus plants will flower better if light is lowered in the winter and then increased in the spring in order to stimulate buds. Winter is a time for keeping cacti cool, dry and out of excessive sunlight and for most species this is more beneficial than keeping them in the hottest southern window all winter. In this winter rest period too much sun becomes counterproductive and causes plants to use up their stored energy reserves just to survive instead of saving resources for making flowers. If cactus plants are old enough to bloom but haven't made flowers yet, the first and best thing to try is increasing sun exposure during their growing seasons.

Watering cacti must be done according to seasonal changes, and for the promotion of flowers water is a necessity. For most species; plenty of water is needed after the plants begin to show signs of their new spring growth, occasional small amounts of water in the summer and only slightly increased amounts from late summer to fall. The winter season requires a long period with very dry soil and it is ineffective for encouraging flowers to water cactus plants too much while they are resting. Wet soil in the winter causes numerous problems like distorted growth, scaring of the skin, and worst of all watering may cause them to die from fungal infection. To end the long dry winter resting period for most cactus varieties it is usually best to wait and see that they are showing signs of new spring growth, and then resume watering. Water must be given or withheld according to seasons, and after they have started to develop their flower buds or are growing new spines from the top of the plant they will need plenty of water to make flowers. Please note that some species of cacti like Epiphyllum, Hatiora and Schlumbergera need some water year round and an extended winter dry period will harm these varieties.

Fertilizer is often considered to be a way to produce flowers from many plant varieties, but with cactus plants it's difficult to tell whether adding nutrients to their soil actually makes them more willing to flower. If fertilizer is going to be used it is best to use a product designed specifically for cactus and succulents and follow the label directions. If there are no specific directions an application of fertilizer once in the spring may give the plants a slightly higher potential for producing flowers, but for the most part fertilizing only makes the plant caregiver feel like they've made their best efforts. Cactus and succulent plants grow slowly and store up the energy they need for flowers over long periods of time, and in most cases it's more a matter of waiting for the plant to reach a mature age than increasing the fertility of their soil.

It's important to avoid imagining that cactus plants are like vine-less garden vegetables which will bloom with lots and lots of sun, water and fertilizer. Cactus and succulent plants are resourceful and conservative which allows them to live in harsh environments, and it is counterproductive to pamper them with abundance. Giving them sun, water and good soil will cause them to produce flowers if their needs are met according to seasonal changes.  ↑

Using Vinegar on Succulent and Cactus Plants

From our experience vinegar may be used on cactus and succulent plants on the condition that, in most cases, the product is rinsed off of these plants very very soon after it is applied. Vinegar left to dry on these plants can cause cosmetic damage to skin or worse cause enough damage to leaves, stems or the root systems to open the door to death by fungal infection.

The vinegar we've tried is intended for use in cooking which, in most cases, is a weaker acid than horticulture vinegar. For our tests vinegar was sprayed of several varieties in an amount that would completely cover the plants in 2 applications given 2 weeks apart in time. We have no interest in testing horticulture vinegar, because the vinegar for cooking proved to be strong enough to show results both harmful and with some benefits.

In some cases the damage caused by vinegar only left scares, but in others the applications created conditions for fungus to attack these plants. Some plants such as Aloe, Haworthia and Euphorbia suffered small amounts of cosmetic skin damage. Other plants sprayed in the same manner such as Hurenia, Echinocereus, Mammillaria and Rebutia suffered fatal results. The plants which died from the applications of vinegar were done in by fungal infections anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months after the second application of vinegar. It is important to keep in mind that cactus plants often appear healthy for several months after they have been fatally damaged. All of the plants we subjected to 2 spray applications of vinegar suffered some kind of damage if the vinegar was left to dry on the plants.

Beneficial Uses of Vinegar on Cacti and Succulents - 5 Different Kinds.

1. Vinegar as an additive for tap water (this is also in the water section):

Tap water is hard on cactus plants and will gradually cause them to stop growing, and more and more growers are using white vinegar to modify tap water for healthier cactus plants. There is a great article on this subject in the September through October 2008 issue of the Cactus and Succulent Journal put out by the CSSA, The Cactus and Succulent Society of America. We never use tap water on any cactus plant, but this is surely important enough to write about on this web page. The recommended amount in the Cactus and Succulent Journal of white vinegar to modify tap water is one table spoon for five gallons of water. By my math for smaller amounts use 9 drops of white vinegar in one quart of tap water or .26 cc of white vinegar in one litre of tap water and the water will be safer to use on cacti. If it is unavoidable to use tap water it can be modified with white vinegar, and that will help keep cactus plants healthy. Rain water or distilled water will be better than tap water, but if tap water has to be used it is better to modify it with white vinegar. Water modified with white vinegar needs to be used or disposed of the same day it is mixed because it will spoil if stored.

2. Removing hard water stains from cactus and succulent plants:

Two things have to be done for this to work with the minimum risk of harming the plants; first remove the plants from their soil and second rinse the vinegar off of the plants very very soon after the application. Spraying vinegar on a potted plant and letting the fluid run into the soil can, in some cases, lead to the death of the plant. Working with the plant removed from its soil will keep the vinegar from soaking into the roots and minimize the potential for root damage. The Ferocactus pictured above has the kind of hard water stains that typically build up on plants watered frequently with tap water.

This plant was removed from its flower pot, sprayed with vinegar for about a 30 second exposure and then all of the vinegar was rinsed off under running water. The vinegar dissolved the hard water stains and the cactus was repotted a few days later. In general it is a good idea to dry cactus plants out, in bare root form, for a few days before repotting them. A good location for this drying out period is in a northern window where they will receive indirect sun. Any time a cactus is being potted or repotted it is better to keep the roots dry and, as it was in this case the entire plant was left to dry for a few days before being repotted. This Ferocactus is now free of hard water deposits and is being watered with rain water to prevent the development of new hard water stains.

3. Vinegar as a solvent for removing insects:

It is almost impossible to make a recommendation for using vinegar for insect control, however horticultural vinegar may be a different matter, and we are ignoring this kind of product. We only tried vinegar for cooking as an insect removal solvent, and generally it is less effective than alcohol based products, or for that matter products designed to control insects like commercial insecticides.

Insects have water resistant surfaces which provide protection for them in nature. It appears to be the case that removing insects with vinegar is almost as effective as using plain water because of the animal's ability to repel water. In an attempt to remove some mealy bugs from a Hurenia the vinegar would be repelled and the insects had to be scrubbed off with more force than if a solution of soapy water had been used.

Perhaps enough exposure to vinegar would be toxic to insects and there may be some insects which can be easily destroyed by vinegar, but keep in mind that the cactus or succulent plants may also be harmed by the vinegar.

4. Vinegar as an agent for controlling surface fungus on plants:

Note: Vinegar applied to broad leaf plants with surface mold will often cause the plant to drop the leaf. This is also the case for succulents which produce thin leaf structures like Euphorbia milii (Crown of Thorns).

Usually if a cactus or succulent plants have fungal infections the plants are simply going to die, but with surface mold the plants will have some skin damage but survive. We applied vinegar (of a strength intended for use in cooking) to a Crassula argentea (Jade Plant) and an Euphorbia meloformis with good results. The application of vinegar arrested the spread of the mold with one very light spray application only to the locations where the mold was attacking the plants. These plants retained scars on their skin where the vinegar was applied, and they would certainly have scars from the mold no matter how this mold had been treated.

5. Using vinegar to stop mold from destroying cactus seedlings.

Vinegar has been very useful for us in stopping some kinds of mold when germinating seeds. There are many kinds of mold that can become problems when growing cactus and succulent plants from seed, and usually it is only a matter of removing some decaying organic matter. Often a seed which fails to germinate will turn into a fuzzy ball of mold and removing this small mass of fungus from the seed medium will be the end of this kind of mold problem.

There are also problems with mold caused by Sciara flies laying eggs in medium for germinating cactus seeds, and vinegar is unlikely to do much in the way of helping to stop this problem. More information on Sciara flies and cactus seed starting?

The kind of mold vinegar has proved itself to be effective in stopping is a long slender structured mold that rapidly grows across the surface of the soil. This kind of mold growth is very destructive to seedlings and can wipe out an entire seed tray in less than a week if allowed to grow unchecked. In repeated trials a very gentle misting of vinegar on this kind of mold has stopped it, and saved hundreds of newly emerging cactus seedlings. The applications were a gentle mist applied with a spray bottle only one time, and the vinegar also landed on newly emerging seedlings too. The seedlings have always survived the vinegar application, but it is surely the case that too much vinegar would harm cactus seedlings too. With this kind of mold, which is very fatal to seedlings, it is well worth the risk to apply a small amount of vinegar to the mold and seedlings in order to stop the mold.  ↑

Environmental Concerns

We are committed to doing our share in helping to preserve species of cactus and succulent plants, and our hope is that everyone would have an interest and be concerned about the long term survival of all cactus and succulent plants. Our commitment at windowsillcactus.com for succulent and cactus plants is to continuously propagate some varieties, and with these species we will always keep enough plants for reproducing them. The following is a list of plants we are currently successfully propagating, and will continue to propagate indefinitely:

We are currently updating this list to include new plants and a few failures too. Hope to have this information complete by mid 2012.   ↑

This is an archive page, so for more information please return to the home page.

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